Author’s Note: I apologize. I messed up. For some reason, I was thinking of May 3rd as being the day Shelly Chatham, Marcia’s biological mother, passed away, and May 4th as being Marcia’s birthday. That is backwards, so I’m currently working on fixing my error in the previous two chapters – As well as what was supposed to be chapter 3. Rosemary rolls eyes at this point. LOL

Chapter 3

5 AM

Marcia arose and hurried through her morning routine, then hurried out to help Bruce feed the animals. She really wanted to get to the horses. There was one that she absolutely loved, and secretly wished was hers. He was a palomino, and greatly resembled the horse Roy Rogers rode in all of his movies.

When she realized she would be on a farm where there were horses, she decided that she wanted to learn about them. Thus, she had decided to research all she could. When she came across information on the famous palomino, she’d watched as many films as she could find with the old western star and his master.

Interestingly, the palomino on the farm was named Tigger, presumably as a nod to Trigger. If she ever got to ride Tigger, she hoped that the name wasn’t in reference to his character. Riding a horse that tended to bounce didn’t seem like it would be fun for a person who preferred to hide her plumbing differences.

After she finished helping to feed the horses, she stopped and stroked Tigger’s neck. She’d brought a cut up apple with her, and gave the horse the pieces while she talked to him. In exchange, Tigger nuzzled her neck with his velvet nose, clearly enjoying the attention.

Finally, she reluctantly said her goodbye to the horse, promising to come back and visit him later, and turned to hurry in and see the other guy she loved.

As she left the barn, Bruce turned from watching her and Tigger, a smile on his lips, and a tear in his eye. Tigger had been Lisa’s horse, but in her letter, she told Bruce to dispose of the gelding however she saw fit.

Bruce finished his work, then headed into the house to talk to his bosses.

-=#=-

Darryl and Marcia were exploring. They’d seen Eklutna village and the lake and glacier the day before, so they were heading the thirty miles to Anchorage to see the Cook Inlet. They headed partway down Turnagain Arm, one of the two branches that headed took off in different directions from Anchorage. The Knik arm, went north, and ended up about thirty miles north, near Palmer. The Turnagain, went east, separating the Kenai Peninsula from the rest of the land.

At the end of the arm, was Portage Lake and Portage Glacier, which drained through a short river into the ocean. The pictures they’d seen of the lake showed a mountain at it’s southeastern end that looked like a giant Hershey’s Kiss®. They intended to drive to the lake, and maybe take the cruise on the lake, but first they stopped at Alyeska Ski Resort.

They spent a lot of time at the resort, even riding the tram to the top of the mountain. In May, the weather wasn’t super warm, but it was mild enough that standing at the top, taking in the view, it was glorious instead of dangerous. As they looked at the ocean far below, it was only natural for Darryl to gather his girlfriend in her arms and kiss her deeply. In turn, she found it only natural to reciprocate.

When they separated, she had an impish look in her eyes. “You’ll be happy to know your tonsils are healthy,” she told him.

He could only laugh.

After they had lunch at the restaurant, they found they needed to head back to Anchorage. Time was running short for them. In Anchorage, they would have a little time, but they didn’t have nearly enough to finish the trip to the glacier and then get back for Marcia’s birthday dinner.

As they were passing through the city, they spotted a jewelry store, and on impulse, Darryl pulled in. Beside the jewelry store was a book store as well.

They went into the jewelry store and looked at some rings, one of which was a bit more than they were expecting to pay, but was what they loved.

Darryl took a card from the salesperson that was helping them, then they went to the bookstore.

While they were there, Marcia found a couple of books on geology that she wanted and Darryl found a couple of mysteries that he didn’t have. He was reading a series about a rich detective in Seattle, and when he finished, he’d let Marcia read them. More often than not, she could figure out the solution before the end.

When they got to Palmer, they just had time to head to the airport, where Chet, Mage, and their kids were waiting. A few minutes later, a blue and white Beechcraft Bonanza G36 came into view, and touched down. It taxied into a spot where visitors would park, and Mike and Gloria got out. A moment later, Bob and Liz also exited. Mike waited by the open door and a moment later, Amber jumped out of the plane and into his arms. As soon as she saw Chet, she wriggled free from her dad and ran to her brother, who barely had enough time to let go of Sammy’s hand and grab the little girl up into a hug.

-=#=-

They all sat down in a private room at a restaurant and placed their orders, then Mike surprised his kids and their families by revealing that he was going to be retiring in a couple of months.

“I’ve gotten tired of sitting behind a desk and not in a cockpit. The times I’ve flown again, even in that little plane. Well, I feel like I’m home.”

“Where will you guys live?” asked Chet.

“Well, we’ve been talking to a real estate agent down here. It seems that we might be able to get a place not too far from here,” Mike answered. “We figure we can make a pretty good living chartering from here, don’t we Bob?”

At first, there wasn’t a response to Mike including Bob in what he was saying, then Darryl said, “Wait a minute. Back up a bit. Dad? You’re going to partner with each other?”

Bob grinned and nodded his head. “Yeah. I heard through the grapevine that my transfer from Eilson was imminent, so instead of leaving Alaska, I decided to retire.”

“Your dad and Mike are going to leave the Air Force, needing two colonels replaced at once,” Liz told the kids.

“You’re retiring on the same day?” Mage asked, dumbfounded.

“Mage!” Bob exclaimed. “We wouldn’t do that!”

“I’m retiring the day before Bob,” Mike told them, indignantly. “Retiring on the same day. How rude, that would be!”

Chet and Marcia both tried to hold in their laughter, but it wasn’t working. A minute later, Mage and Darryl joined in.

“Both of us have heard of a couple of houses on Fire Lake, just south of here, and Bob has a line on another Beechcraft, so he’s looking to purchase it.”

“Purchasing both has to be well over a million dollars,” Marcia observed.

Bob nodded as she was entirely correct and told them, “We’ll have a bit of an advantage with the banks.”

Mike turned a bit red, as he knew what his friend was about to say.

“We have the hero of Alaska Airlines as one of the owners and pilots.”

To deflect a bit of Mike’s embarrassment, Gloria put in, “Not to mention his best friend, and commanding officer.”

“That will definitely help,” Chet observed.

“Daddy’s a hero!” Amber exclaimed. She had claimed his lap as soon as they sat down at the table. Suddenly, a server was at their table. She wasn’t carrying food, but looked at Mike. “Did I hear right, Sir?” she asked. “You’re the pilot who landed that plane a couple of years ago? The one that was hijacked?”

Mike blushed again and mumbled, “Yeah.”

“Thank you so much, Sir. My parents were on that plane. You saved their lives!”

She gushed a bit more, to both Mike and Gloria, and as she left, there were tears in Gloria’s eyes. Mike had to wipe his as well.

A few minutes later, their food was brought in.

After they ordered some desert, Chet turned to his sister. “We’ve got a couple of presents for you. One’s from us, and the other’s from Bruce.”

“We were in town with Stephen today, and stopped at a feed store,” Mage told he. “They had a beautiful saddle there that we just knew you’d love and it turns out that the owner of the store also gives riding lessons.”

Marcia was thrilled at the news, but it quickly got even better.

Chet carried on the production by telling her, “It turns out that Tigger was Bruce’s. He saw how quickly you fell in love with him, and he’s given him to you. Happy birthday, Sis!”

Marcia couldn’t believe her ears! Against all hope, she was now the owner of Tigger!

But, the biggest surprise was yet to come.

Darryl surprised everyone by standing up and addressing Mike formally. “Sir, I’d like to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”

Mike’s eyes got wide. He knew that Darryl and Marcia would marry. They gave each other promise rings three years ago, and he was delighted that both Chet and Mage would be married to Bob and Liz’s kids. In a slightly surprised voice, he told Darryl, “Of course, Darryl. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to do things right.”

Dropping to one knee, he pulled a jewelry box out of his pocket, flipped it open, and held it out to Marcia. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me, Foxy?”

If possible, her eyes were bigger than her dad’s had been. It was obviously the ring they’d seen earlier in the day! How did he… Oh yeah. He said he needed to use the restroom while we were in the book shop. He must have snuck back to the the jewelry store instead!

Wordlessly, she nodded, and he slipped the ring onto her finger. She jumped up and threw her arms around him after he stood up. She found that she needed to double check that his tonsils were still in working order. Hmm… He checked on hers too.